Hello friends!

We are surely living in trying times. Many around us are suffering from emotional and physical distancing, as well as financial hardship. Loss of life due to the pandemic has shattered dreams and hopes while also putting undue strain upon people everywhere. It is our hope that you find comfort and solace in small things. I hope this simple post is one of those ‘small things’ -without further ado… May I present: Renovation or Rescue? Saving the Shed

You may not have realized we have a large out-building adjacent to the house. I’ve tried for years to crop it out of photos of the yard because it was in such a dilapidated state of disrepair. The shed was constructed in 1963 and contained an outhouse, sauna and assorted storage areas of the original homeowners. There was even a section which housed chickens! There were other small sheds adjacent to the larger out-building which were used during the chicken coop days, but we took those down a few years ago to make way for the garden renovation of this back area of the property. (see below – September 2017) I previously mentioned this in a post HERE

The out-building *was* properly constructed and *was* very sturdy -a long time ago. Over several years, the leaking roof has caused quite a bit of damage to the wooden aspects of the structure, as well as many of the things being stored inside over the last five years. Externally, the siding had begun the process of breaking down and had gotten quite soft- to the point you could poke a screw-driver through it in some places. Okay, you get the idea! The building needed-REQUIRED- intervention. Thus, Renovation or Rescue?

You can see what the building looked like in this March 2014 photo. The left end of the first photo contained a small changing room and where the water cauldron to heat the shower water was located. The far right-hand side of the photo, in that small grayish section, is where the outhouse was.

The photo above shows our wonderful garden, complete with rusty metal burner in 2014 and this hideous outbuilding just begging to be saved.

The stars aligned. Pekka decided to devote a portion of his summer holiday to tackling the out-building. The project of *renovation/rescue* will need to be meted out in phases as there isn’t enough time nor money at the moment to do more than satisfy the primary need: replace the leaking roof.

The out-building is sitting on a very strong foundation of poured concrete. The walls and ceiling were uninsulated, except in a small section surrounding what had been the shower and sauna area- remember this was the only ‘bathroom’ of the original home site. “Showers” then consisted of heating a large cauldron of water by means of a wood fired stove. Heated water became the bathing water. At the other end of the building there was an old-fashioned outhouse toilet.

Most of the building is sided with wood, but because one end of the building was sheathed in the same material as was used on the roof (corrugated asbestos panels) and those panels obstructed access to the roof truss and roofline, Pekka’s first job was to remove all those asbestos panels which had been used as siding.

After getting those asbestos panels off, Pekka placed stringers, insulation, and we nailed in a wind barrier board over the east, west, and north end of the building. At some point in the future, new wood siding will be installed over the wind barrier. All the old siding will eventually be removed and replaced with new siding -all stained the same color as the house.

 

Pekka also had the nasty task of removing all the moldy insulation from within the walls and ceiling of those rooms in the building which had them. He also began removing old, rotten ceiling and wall boards. It was a seriously nasty job. Hazardous and gross. Plus we reconfigured the location of access which required a new door and the closing off of the large main door. I got to stain the new entry door once it was installed, as shown in the photo above.

With the final weekend of his summer holiday closing in, a unified effort of Pekka and his brother Velli-Matti began the arduous task of removing all the asbestos panels from the roof, and then delivering all the asbestos panels to the municipal refuse site. They then began the task of installing new wood plank supports, a weather guard and finally, assembling and piecing together the new black metal roofing system – similar to that of the main house.

Friday was spent mostly removing and hauling away the old panels.

Saturday was the longest day of work – from early morning until dusk they managed to get all the support planking and weather barrier in place, and had set in nearly a full half of the metal roof.

Sunday was an early rise to beat the rain forecasted to hit us at 14:00. They tucked in the last bits from the first half and began the process to assembling the second half – taking time out as needed to watch the hockey game Saturday and Sunday.

Velli-Matti returned home after the Sunday hockey game, leaving us with a fully assembled and newly installed roof! Yay! No more leaks!  They beat the rain too. The forecast was wrong, and we had no rain until Monday!

Here they are hard at work.

 

And that’s the finished roofing job this Monday morning in the rain. We’ve got a huge pile of discarded material on the backside out of view to get rid, as well as the installation of windows and eaves. Once things dry out I can begin the process of staining all the roofline fascia boards.

So while it isn’t a complete shed renovation, it is a fair bit towards saving the shed from further ruin.

**** Many thanks to my wonderful brother-in-law Velli-Matti who went above and beyond, devoting his entire weekend to helping Pekka re-roof this tired old-building. ****

For the future: There are big plans for this building! Re-vamped interior to include a private access en suite guest lodging with private patio, as well as usable space for us to store garden equipment, and an area for crafts and other projects. Can’t wait! I already have the entire decor in my head – color schemes and all!!

So, that’s it folks for this phase of: Rescue the Shed!

It’s been warm and sunny – and the garden is looking great. Hope yours is too!

The photo above showcases some new lilies I put in this spring – Forever Marjolein and Spring Pink – situated next to a purple Cotinus (smoke bush) – there are some tall green spikes too – purple liatris which haven’t flowered yet. I mentioned these lilies and other items in a previous post HERE

Thank you for following along on our home, garden AND shed renovation! *Always* something happening here, even when there isn’t! HAH!

Until next time ❤ Vanha Talo Suomi